𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞¹ (𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠)

19. oh brother

My shaky hands held onto Finn's as Clarke paced back and forth, explaining my brother's condition to her mother. "The blade is positioned at a sharp upward angle between the sixth and seventh rib."

"Okay," Abby's voice came through the staticky radio, "How deep?"

Clarke stopped pacing and came to Finn's bedside, "Well, I can't tell how deep it goes."

"That's alright," Abby promised, "Just don't remove the knife yet."

Clarke let out a shaky breath as she poured more moonshine onto her hands, "Here," she said once she was done, "Sterilize your hands" she instructed to Raven who was nervously pacing back and forth.

Once Raven had done so, Clarke handed the container to me, "You too, Avery."

I poured the liquid onto my hands, rubbing them together in order for the moonshine to sterilize all parts of my hands. I did not want to be the reason that Finn got an infection. As soon as I placed the moonshine back on the table, Raven grabbed it, quickly taking a sip before wincing.

I watched her, resisting asking for her to hand it to me so I could take a swig. 

"Clarke, do you see any fluid?" Abby asked.

Clarke got closer to the wound, trying to get a look, however a scuffle behind us distracted her. Two boys were bickering, one shoving the other in anger, "Damnit!" Clarke huffed, "Clear the room." she ordered to Raven.

"Everyone, upstairs, now!" Raven barked, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention.

Clarke placed her hand on Finn's forehead, letting out a small sigh, "He feels a little warm."

"That's alright, fever sometimes accompanies the trauma." Abby assured. 

Raven rejoined us, everyone now cleared from the room as Abby continued, "Clarke, I need you to tell me if there is any fluid leaking from the wound."

Clarke bent down to get a closer look at Finn's wound, "Uh, no." she answered.

"That's good." Abby confirmed, "Pleural membrane's intact. That's good...that's actually really good. He got lucky."

I felt myself let out a sigh of relief as I glanced down at my brother, he might actually be able to pull through this.

"Hear that?" Raven said, coming to stand at Finn's head, "You got lucky."

Another clap of thunder boomed from outside, shaking the Dropship in its wake.

"Okay, Clarke," Abby's voice came through once again, "Firm grip on the knife. You're going to need to angel it upwards and to the left, very slightly to the left as it exits the ribcage."

Clarke stood with her hands in front of her as not to contaminate them, "How very slightly?" she questioned, her voice uneven.

"Three—Clarke—" The radio cut in and out, making it impossible to hear what Abby was saying. My head shot towards the radio in panic, we could not lose connection.

Clarke's nervous eyes met mine, "Wait, what was that? You dropped out."

"Clarke, three millimetres. You got it?" Abby's voice was more clear this time, enough so that we could actually hear the instructions.

Clarke nodded, "Yeah, I got it." She looked down at Finn before looking up again, "Here it goes."

"Steady hand, Clarke. You've assisted me on trickier procedures than this. Once that knife is out the hard part is over" her mother encouraged through the radio.

I placed my hands on Finn's head and ran my hand through his hair, something our mother always did when we were sick as children.

Clarke inched her hand towards the knife, eventually placing a firm grip on it, "Alright, extracting now."